One last hope
by shadowwolf75
Summary: Yay, another Xyber 9 fic! As for a description, just read it . . .


whee, another Xyber 9 fic! Xyber 9 was given free will as the last hope of mankind . . . but who gave him that free will, and what happened when that person had to give him up to the future?

One last hope . . .  
by Shadow Wolf75

About a thousand years before Tatania and Renard's war . . . the great civilization of the Ancients still exists, but it is in it's final days. War has broken out; war over the Xybers and their power, over the ideals of the people, and just over the usual territory and borders. Two factions are ready to deploy their superweapons, each powered by Xybers and with enormous destructive power. If both are used at the same time, civilization will be destroyed . . .

The scientists responsible for creating the Xybers see the destruction as inevitable . . . but maybe in time, Terrana can recover. But they couldn't let their knowledge disappear forever, so they built one last Xyber unit: Xyber 9 . . .

Deep into the night, the leader of those scientists runs to a hidden storage vault in the jungle, her black hair and white lab coat flapping in the breeze. The nametag on her lab coat reads, Professor Lyla Hikaru. With Xyber 9 in hand, she disappears into the forest . . .

* * *

Lyla looked around, hoping nobody had followed her from the city or the lab. No one else could know about Xyber 9, he had to remain hidden until after the destruction. She half wished she was infected with the Machina virus, the biological weapon had the strange effect of enhancing one's night vision. Lyla kept running for the vault, deciding to rely on the Xyber's sensors.

"Xyber 9, is there anyone following us? If there is, it's a _very_ bad thing . . ." Lyla asked of the computer she carried.

The Xyber turned himself to face her and said, "There are no other humans for a 2 kilometer radius, Professor Hikaru. We should be safe for now."

Lyla sighed in exasperation; she'd been trying to get Xyber 9 to be less formal but it just wasn't working. "Ugh, I told you to call me Lyla! Fancy titles don't mean anything, especially with what's going to happen in a few days! Even being a professor, I couldn't do anything to stop those fools from building those infernal machines . . ."

Xyber 9 tilted his dome down a bit, he looked saddened. "I still don't understand why humans are so driven to destroy each other . . . it only causes pain and suffering. I wish I knew why this sort of thing always seems to happen . . ."

Lyla's expression softened a bit. "So do I, Xyber 9 . . . whatever it is, I guess it's hardcoded into us. We blew up the Earth in World War 3, and now we're going to do the same to this planet Terrana. Only not on such a grand scale . . . the surface will be damn near uninhabitable for a while, but things should recover in time."

Xyber 9 still hadn't changed his expression. "Lyla . . . you're going to die, aren't you?" he asked sadly.

Lyla smiled somewhat wickedly. "Oh I don't know . . . I'm a tough old bitch, maybe I will make it!" The smile soon faded to a thin line. "But it's probably best that I don't survive . . . that none of us scientists from the lab survive. If one of the damn warlords manages to survive and then tortures one of us . . . they'll find you and start things all over again. No, we have to die with our mistakes . . . you're to make sure those mistakes are never forgotten. You're the one last hope for humanity . . . that's why we gave you free will."

Xyber 9 tilted his dome to a more neutral position. "Free will? Then what if I want to stay out here and help you? What if I want to try and stop the destruction?"

"Well, you may have free will, but this is one thing where you have no choice in the matter. I'm sorry, Xyber 9, but far too much is riding on this, as you well know . . ."

The vault soon loomed ahead of Lyla and Xyber 9. She opened the door that was marked with a 9 and entered the vault. "Well, here's your new home. Even has a Xyber port and everything, though it doesn't actually link to anything . . ."

The port was the only thing in the large room, and Lyla walked over to it. "Everything's in order. Guess this is goodbye, Xyber . . . as soon as I put you in here, you'll go into sleep mode. You'll probably never see me again."

The Xyber looked sad again. "Well, goodbye then, Lyla Hikaru . . . and good luck!"

Lyla had tears in her eyes. "Good luck to you, too . . . sleep well, my friend." She inserted the Xyber into the port and watched him go into sleep mode, the dome closing over his camera eye.

The professor left the vault and closed it off, then turned and walked back to the doomed city knowing she was going to die there . . .


End file.
